Ninfa Nicol www.barbadosvilla.net

Just imagine-playing golf on a tropical island at a championship golf course! Our favourite place to visit is Barbados. To play golf while enjoying all the amenities of this beautiful island with perfect weather is a bonus.

We stay right on the Course in a two bedroom/two bath luxury villa at Royal Westmoreland Golf and Country Club. This Robert Trent Jones course is spectacular and is one of the world's top 20 golf courses. My friends and I have enjoyed one of the most incredible golf experiences while experiencing all the fun of holidaying on Beautiful Barbados. Playing challenging golf over ravines, in quarries and along fairways that border an incredibly beautiful natural reserve or having views of the sea make it an experience that you can't miss! The 5th,A Quarry hole, and 6th,The Hermits hole, and the 12th hole challenge even the lowest handicap player. The 1st hole plays over a grass filled gully. Try the 3rd hole, the Monkey's Table, a par 3 elevated tee with a tail wind at your back.

At the 18th, the course designer, Robert Trent Jones Junior's message on the tee reads, "May the wind be at your back and your shot making skills tested when you play this challenging hole".

I thought that playing golf in 80plus degree weather and being under the sun might be a little too hot but there is always a gentle trade wind either challenging you or keeping you cool. A refreshment cart was always coming by to add ice to our drinks. We even caught a view of one of the last Concords flying into Barbados as we looked onto the Caribbean while teeing off. The bar in the colonial clubhouse was a welcome site after a good round of golf.

While we were just spending a day at our Villa or after a round of golf, we often went for a dip at The Sanctuary, where there is an Olympic size pool, a Jacuzzi, children's pool, fitness center, landscaped like a tropical paradise. The Sanctuary also has pool aerobics for the ladies, a fun way to exercise and keep cool. Other times we decided to spend a day at the beach and 'just veg' and a shuttle took us to the nearby beach on the Platinum West Coast at the Royal Pavilion and Glitter Bay Resorts that are dedicated facilities for guests at the villa at Royal Westmoreland.

The Villa's housekeeper prepared some of our meals in Bajan tradition. We wanted to experience one of the finest restaurants , La Terra, at the Royal Westmoreland Club House. We also dined at several of many quality restaurants on the island that boast awards for their world class cuisine and compete with the best in Canada. A new restaurant has opened up in the Gap, Restaurant at the South Sea, which is right on the water in the south west of the island. The meal and the atmosphere were exquisite. We also dined at The Cliff, also by the sea and one of the best restaurants on the island. The romantic west coast Cliffside restaurant, Carambola, sits on terraced tiers and overlooks the sea washing into the rocks, all illuminated at night. It too, cannot be missed. The experience of dining with no sweater or jacket outside by the sea , no bugs, fine food on a warm evening, can't be surpassed!

We rented a car and had fun driving on the wrong side of the road, going around roundabouts until we found what direction we were suppose to be headed. The night we went to the Carambola, we got off the roundabout in the wrong direction and went on a wild goose chase to Bridgetown, instead of being on the west coast.

We also toured the island. We didn't have time to visit Harrison Caves but it is a must see. But you must take a tour of Mount Gay Rum Factory and buy some rum at the end of the tour. We lunched at an old house on the sea, The Fishpot, north of Speightstown.

We travelled the east coast to Bathsheba and Atlantis Hotel but got lost many times either because of the lack of road signs or because we were having too much fun driving the hilly terrain. Lunch at Villa Nova, one of the restored Plantaion Houses that is now a Country House Hotel, is something else that should be done. Rent a catamaran, pack a lunch, swim at a secluded beach, for the day. And for anyone who is interested in the history of the island, there is the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. There are also many Art Galleries with Bajan art that are worthwhile taking the time to see.

Barbados is one of the loveliest islands in the Caribbean, known as the "The Gem of the Caribbean Sea". A holiday and golfing all rolled into one. What else could you ask for?


























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